Nickel and Dimed
by Barbara Ehrenreich
Ehrenreich takes low-wage jobs, waitress, cleaner, nursing-home aide, Walmart associate, in three cities and tries to live on the pay. She cannot. The book is journalism of the first rank and a permanent corrective to the idea that poverty is a failure of effort.
Read it if…
you want to understand what low-wage work actually costs the people doing it.
Skip it if…
you want personal finance advice; it is reportage.
Three things you will actually use
- Hard work and poverty coexist.
- Housing costs break the math.
- Dignity in low-wage work is real and underpaid.
Do this first
Calculate what a full-time worker at your area's minimum wage can afford in rent.
Our verdict
Essential journalism.
Compare with other Money books
Browse all Money book reviews or get the free Reality Code Cheat Sheet.
As an Amazon Associate, WisdomDeck earns from qualifying purchases. Links marked “Click to see” go to Amazon. We are not paid for opinions, prices and availability are not shown here and change on Amazon, and we never see your purchase details. Nothing here is medical, legal or financial advice.